I just love when I have to drive to Oxford to see Ween or Nashville to see Band of Horses or Atlanta to see Kings of Leon and even to Corinth, yes, Corinth, to see Lucero. I just love it.
People like to complain about Starkville’s music scene. They say that not enough good bands come to play in Starkville or that the local music scene sucks, but I only agree with half of that.
Unfortunately, not enough good, not even great, bands come through Starkville and while our music scene is a little lean, it doesn’t suck.
For Starkville to bring in some better bands, it would have to move and/or have a more diverse crowd. With our town stuck in the middle of nowhere, it’s not that hard to see why we don’t get better bands. Oxford sees better and more bands than we do because of its location in between Memphis and New Orleans, both cities that draw a lot of bands.
Bands plan their tours early. They might make adjustments here and there but they usually won’t take a huge detour to come play in Starkville for a small crowd if they can help it.
Another factor contributing to Starkville’s lack of being able to draw good bands is diversity. When I am on campus and look around, what do I see? A sea of different colored Ugg boots and Nike shorts and The North Face jackets. The only decision to be made is what color uniform the person wants to put on today.
This conformity seems to extend into popular taste in music as well. There is nothing wrong with liking a band that is popular or mainstream. It is just as bad to hate something or someone because it is popular than it is to like something or someone that is popular. But if the music sounds like crap or looks like crap, it doesn’t matter if it’s popular or not, it is still crap.
Turn off the Clear Channel radio station or quit looking at the Top Downloads on iTunes. Diversify, please. There’s plenty of other music to choose from.
And because bar and club owners want to book whoever will bring them the most money so they are not out any money (most bands get a guaranteed minimum payment) and make that thing every owner seeks: profit.
So this is why a lot of the “big” bands that come here are who they are. This semester Starkville has seen Blues Traveler (a band that hasn’t put out a good album this millennium), Hinder (a band that has never put out a good album) and 12 Stones (another band sans even one good album).
Also, a lot of pop-country all-stars like Matt Stillwell and Roger Creager have filled the clubs and bars. Whatever happened to the time when country musicians didn’t put gel in their hair?
Lukewarm musicians also abound. Gavin Degraw and Matt Wertz blessed us with their presence at Bulldog Bash. Luckily, Jason Isbell was there to give us some semblance of respect.
The musical high points of the semester were Three Six Mafia and Blue Mountain. Done.
Regardless, the local music scene is more diverse than it seems. From foot-stomping boogie of The Waco Dead, the Dinosaur Jr.-inspired indie-rock of Poacher, the porch-pickin’ folk country of Come On, Go With Us, or sweat-soaked club beats from The Hooded Deer as well as many more hyphen-inspiring bands.
Venues for local musicians are not plentiful when many students go for dollar night to hear what’s “hot” that week by some DJ.
One place to catch local music is Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern. Owner Dave Hood books more local music every week than some places do in a month. The dimly lit, ever-changing, gutted-out-expanse-of-hotel-rooms locale is both a venue and a home to many local musicians.
“The local music scene in a college town is part of its identity,” Hood said. “The tavern’s niche is that it is known as a supporter of local music.”
Hood, who has known many musicians over the years, said he knows how much talent lies in this town.
“Starkville has a strong music scene because there is a lot of talent here,” Hood said.
The musicians of Starkville are tightly knit, and many hang out together, fill in for someone else if they can’t make it, or are double booked since most musicians play in at least two bands.
They go on the road together and like it when local fans come to support them. Speaking for my fellow musicians, we like to have a good time as much as anyone else, and that can be a problem when we’re playing for just the bar staff.
So next time you see a local band name or a name you don’t recognize on a marquee or sign, look the band up, see if you like it and learn to look deeper than the big crowds at the nearly-forgotten, ’90s heroes show and support some local musicians. We need all the help we can get and we’re broke.
Neal Clark is a senior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at [email protected].